January 2024 | Conversion: Persecutor Turns Promoter

Jesus Christ, the Bread
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Jesus Christ, the Bread

Dr. Valson Abraham

During the United States Presidential election frenzy, politicians will promise, and Americans will vote for, what can never be perfectly realized by any human chief executive, no matter how talented, experienced or sincere. At such times, I frequently think of Jesus’ words, “I am the bread.

Jesus gave these words soon after he had fed 5,000 men from five small loaves and two fishes provided by a small boy. Like many today, the crowd saw in Jesus the makings of a political savior who would meet all their physical needs and desires. They wanted to make Jesus into a king because they saw Jesus as the pathway to an easy earthly life of bread and circuses. 

In short, they regarded Jesus as a means to an end. In a strange way, they may have even thought that Jesus owed them a living. When Jesus did not readily agree with their wishes, they grew frustrated, angry and puzzled. They left Him and did not follow Him any longer.It’s easy for us to criticize these shortsighted people, but do you and I also have hidden agendas for Jesus?

Jesus is not just the supplier of bread and agendas, personal or political. He Himself is “the bread who comes from heaven. Whoever feeds upon Him will never hunger but will have eternal life. When we “feed on Christ,” He comes to dwell within us so that His life becomes our own. We experience fellowship with Him and with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. We participate in His resurrection.

Are we willing to sacrifice our own agendas for His, trusting Him to accomplish purposes in our lives that are more satisfying than anything we could possibly create ourselves?

How do we “feed on Christ”? First, we must know that Jesus is the true bread. We must give thanks to Him that He has freely offered Himself as a propitiation for our sins. Like children, we must seek Him, and we must ask Him to feed us. Jesus promises, “He who comes to me I will not cast out.”

We must come to Jesus through the cross. We must recognize our sin and regularly confess it. We must take Christ personally into our lives, not just believe doctrines, but trust Him in our real-life situations to give what is best.

We must let Jesus show us what He is doing right now to guide our thoughts and actions. We must anticipate that He will fulfill His promises in and through us.

We do not eat good, nourishing meals without taking our time to chew our food. In the same way, we must take our time with Jesus. To “feed on Jesus,” we must do it alone, in fellowship with likeminded people, and in praise and expectation.

When we do these simple but profound things on a regular basis, we will discover how alive and relevant Jesus is to our lives. We will find purpose and power in our lives that we never had before. We will find that Jesus is the Source of all that is good in life and He is the “True Living Bread that truly satisfies.”

We will also discover a growing desire to see others come to feed upon this same bread unto their own eternal life. Hundreds of millions of people in India have no idea of the promise that Jesus gives to them as well. Pray that they will also come to know Him. Pray that you will become one of those “beggars who shows another beggar where to find bread.”

Father God, help me to sacrifice my shortsighted personal agenda for your eternal purposes. Help me to seek only after you, the true living Bread of Life, so that I may experience life in all its fullness as you intended from the beginning.  Help me to take this Good News to others. In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

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